Posts Tagged ‘web design’

Many people can design beautiful web pages, but there are very few great web designers.

A great web designer must be able to create beautiful web pages. But what if they’re not consistent with the brand?

So… a great web designer must also understand brand design. But what if the pages look great and are “on brand,” but don’t drive any action?

So… a great web designer must also understand the desired actions for any given page. But how can the designer do that without knowing what would appeal to the site’s visitors?

So… a great web designer must also work out the motivations and desires of the site’s visitors. But how can the designer do that without developing strong user personas and performing market research?

So… a great web designer must also be able to perform market research and develop user personas. But even with all of that, how can the designer do a great job without knowing the strategic business goals of the website?

So… a great web designer must also have at least a basic grasp of business strategy. But how will the designer know if the design is a success without analytics?

So… a great web designer must also be able to request certain kinds of data, interpret that data, and then tweak the site based on web analytics. But what if the designer discovers that the designs aren’t converting as well as desired?

So… a great web designer must also understand conversion tactics, like landing pages, offers, lead nurturing, and A/B testing. But what if the site converts well but isn’t getting enough traffic?

So… a great web designer must also be able to implement traffic generation tactics, like search engine optimization, blogging, social media integration, and how to best design around content. But what if the designer knows how to do all of the above, but is unable to build any consensus with the client?

So… a great web designer must also be a great communicator and motivator. But what if the designer can get the team pumped, but is completely disorganized?

So… a great web designer must also have strong project management skills.

A great web designer is a lot more than just a designer of beautiful web pages. He or she is also a brand expert, psychologist, marketing strategist, researcher, business consultant, analyst, SEO, social media practitioner, content editor, consensus builder, motivator, and project manager.

Mitchell asks what happens if visitors are turned off when they get to your website? A good inbound marketing strategy has two components – 1) attracting traffic and 2) converting traffic. Sarah notes:

“If people aren’t reading – and we know even avid readers are deluged with far too much information to digest – we have to depart from the tactics of writing to attract them. What makes people stop and take notice? Design.”

Mitchell provides a case study to make three key points:

People skim

People notice design before content

Design can be used to help people focus on a call to action

Key Marketing Point: Even when your focus is on developing outstanding content, how you design and package that content is also important.

Without question, a new website is a big investment in effort and money. If you want to kick the project off in the best way, here are eight questions you should already be able to answer at the initial meeting with your web designer.